Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

Tiny Trains: Neat Narrow-Gauge Rail Connects German Island to Mainland

weburbanist.com

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

71–80 of 100 posts

Re: Tiny Trains: Neat Narrow-Gauge Rail Connects German Island to Mainland

#71

Post by jancs »

OrganicMSG wrote: post #39
tomcam wrote: post #19

What is it about guys and trains? I reflexively upvoted before even reading the article, and after reading the article, I realize it is a pretty standard narrow gauge railroad. Don’t care! Would vote again if I could!

>Each island house has its own wagon — some used to be wind-powered, using sails, but today they run on diesel. Is that pretty standard?

It's a unique situation in Germany, and one that works for a small community where everyone knows everyone else.

The cars are not only privately owned, but handmade with wood and motorcycle parts.

There are a couple of safety rules, which are enforced by a permit you get from the mayor of the Hallig (island), and if you break the rules too often, it gets revoked. Which has happened only one time so far, apparently.

Re: Tiny Trains: Neat Narrow-Gauge Rail Connects German Island to Mainland

#72

Post by vinay427 »

yitchelle wrote: post #35
tomcam wrote: post #19

What is it about guys and trains? I reflexively upvoted before even reading the article, and after reading the article, I realize it is a pretty standard narrow gauge railroad. Don’t care! Would vote again if I could!

Could it be German and trains? I haven't known a country that is so into trains besides Germany. Actually, engineering in general is pretty high all the German guy's interest.

As others mentioned, the Japanese have insanely popular train networks, and the Swiss have incredibly conveniently train networks despite their smaller cities. I think both countries have Germany beat. :)

Re: Tiny Trains: Neat Narrow-Gauge Rail Connects German Island to Mainland

#73

Post by jancs »

parliament32 wrote: post #15

Private train cars are the most interesting part. I wonder how signaling works? Does each house/"station" have its own fork in the tracks for getting their private train car home?

There is no signalling, except for one marker in the middle of the longest stretch of single track rail between turnouts. Whoever reaches it first can continue, the other party has to go back. Though apparently, you can see whether the other car will be first, and wait.

Also, you don't really need forks, because are light enough to be lifted off the tracks. Some pull them up on special car trailers.

Re: Tiny Trains: Neat Narrow-Gauge Rail Connects German Island to Mainland

#74

Post by jancs »

Someone wrote: post #27
parliament32 wrote: post #15

Private train cars are the most interesting part. I wonder how signaling works? Does each house/"station" have its own fork in the tracks for getting their private train car home?

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lüttmoorsiel-Nordstrandischm... has a schematic of the track. Looking at the map, it seems there are only two endpoints to the line on the island. On the other hand, https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nordstrandischmoor claims there are only 4 households on the island, so even assuming each has its separate fork, “each house” isn’t that much. I wonder what system they have to prevent the…

They use a marker in between the runarounds, and whoever reaches it first can pass while the other car needs to turn back.

Re: Tiny Trains: Neat Narrow-Gauge Rail Connects German Island to Mainland

#75

Post by twic »

dalore wrote: post #54
twic wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I think it's nerds and trains, rather than guys and trains. I know at least one woman who is pretty excited about trains too, and she is a colossal dork. EDIT: and what it is about nerds and trains is that trains are wicked sweet .

Trains are like an information network you can see in action.

For me it's this. I am actually pretty indifferent to trains. But i am fascinated by railways.

Re: Tiny Trains: Neat Narrow-Gauge Rail Connects German Island to Mainland

#76

Post by aphrax »

TipVFL wrote: post #50

The neatest part of this article was the fact that these trains used to operate by sail. It's a strange image to imagine but it makes a lot of sense for an incredibly windy area with rails. My uncle is actually a tiny train enthusiast. He bought really old schematics for a full-size steam powered locomotive and scaled them down, machining every little piece from blocks of metal. He has been working on it for 20+ year…

I would love to see some pictures of this, any chance he would share some?

Re: Tiny Trains: Neat Narrow-Gauge Rail Connects German Island to Mainland

#77

Post by sschueller »

yitchelle wrote: post #35
tomcam wrote: post #19

What is it about guys and trains? I reflexively upvoted before even reading the article, and after reading the article, I realize it is a pretty standard narrow gauge railroad. Don’t care! Would vote again if I could!

Could it be German and trains? I haven't known a country that is so into trains besides Germany. Actually, engineering in general is pretty high all the German guy's interest.

Switzerland, which has one if not the most dense rail networks in the world at 126 m per km².

Re: Tiny Trains: Neat Narrow-Gauge Rail Connects German Island to Mainland

#78

Post by usrusr »

bobthepanda wrote: post #56
jacquesm wrote: post #47

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> railroads have been romanticized in media for decades in a way that few other technologies have been. Cars, space travel, boats, aircraft, all manner of transportation has been romanticized as much or even more than trains.

And all of those also have a lot of nerds who like those things.

Except for cars, those who obsess about cars are considered the antithesis of a nerd.

Re: Tiny Trains: Neat Narrow-Gauge Rail Connects German Island to Mainland

#80

Post by usrusr »

sho wrote: post #65
yitchelle wrote: post #35

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Could it be German and trains? I haven't known a country that is so into trains besides Germany. Actually, engineering in general is pretty high all the German guy's interest.

I would say that the Japanese are the most "into" trains by a fairly wide margin. They permeate everyday life and popular culture there in a way which is hard to appreciate unless you actually go there. The Yamanote line is probably the most romanticised railway line in the world, appearing in countless shows, both animated and live action, and Shinjuku station is the most popular transport hub in the world, of any t…

Which begs the question, could train obsession be a substitute for not obsessing about military hardware?

On the other hand, I don't know enough about Japan, are they really obsessed about trains or do they just happen to be really really good at trains and use them a lot? They might be just pragmatic about them (quite the opposite of obsessed) and a high presence in daily life would naturally be reflected in pop culture.

Post reply on HN